CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. - It is not every day that Apollo and Athena arrive at your house. But they have been doing this all summer and the beginning of the school year to get Chesterfield students excited about reading.
"Because there was no Summer Olympics, we decided to have the reading challenge based on this," Patrick Held, with Chesterfield Schools, said. “[Catherine Tompkins] created this amazing website that had all these virtual field trips."
Kids read books based on the challenges and receive rewards.
"This got everybody in the mix to start it off," Catherine Tompkins, also with Chesterfield Schools, said. “And once people started seeing what was going on online and you should have seen how more and more people got involved."
Besides, what a fun way to get out of the office.
"Come down from Mt. Olympus if you will and talk to them about reading, especially during COVID," Held said. "Because they really were excited. And a lot of the parents didn't tell the kids that you'd have these two people come in this convertible. Ta-da!!"
Mother and fellow Chesterfield teacher Lindsay Garrison said it was great for her daughter Eloise.
"It's a good motivation for her to keep reading and keep doing it. She is really proud of herself too," she said. "You want when kids are learning and working hard, you want them to feel like they are getting something back."
Greeking out and building excitement about reading is Building Better Minds.
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